Mobile TV Business Opportunities: Facts and Fiction

Transcription

1 Mobile TV Business Opportunities: Facts and Fiction Claudia Loebbecke Department of Business Administration, Media and Technology Management, University of Cologne, Germany Ernst-Olav Ruhle SBR Juconomy Consulting AG, Dusseldorf, Germany With the convergence of telecommunication infrastructures, computer technology, and media content services, Mobile TV offerings have become feasible. We define Mobile TV offerings as real-time broadcast transmissions of content to mobile devices. Such defined Mobile TV builds on either Digital Video Broadcasting Handheld (DVB-H) 1 or Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) 2 as infrastructure technology. To sharpen the market analysis, we prefer such narrow definition, which purposefully excludes all video clips that are available on-demand on mobile devices. 3 Earlier research on Mobile TV has taken a number of routes: For example Rautio et al. (2004) took an economics approach and investigate suitable pricing strategies. Marilly et al. (2007) focused on the personalization of Mobile TV. Through a media management lens, Hu (2007) explored the diffusion of Mobile TV. Loebbecke et al. (2008) investigate paradoxes of Mobile TV use, and Jarvenpaa and Loebbecke (2009) analyze provider insights to be gained from a consumer value perspective on Mobile TV. Based on our definition of Mobile TV, in this paper we investigate the attractiveness of Mobile TV offerings, both for users / customers and then subsequently for providers. We base our insights mainly on data collected from log files and extensive interview rounds with providers and users of 3Italia's Mobile TV offerings. 4 The 3Italia Mobile TV offerings present the first nationwide ones in Europe and the first DVB-H ones in the world. Only South Korea's DMB-based offerings were available nationwide before 3Italia went to market. Our research on 3Italia's Mobile TV shows that their users are experiencing increasing use, user preferences for time sensitive content, and user satisfaction with content. They watch Mobile TV when away from home. Almost 60% of users watch Mobile TV predominantly outdoors and 28% watch Mobile TV generally in- and outdoors. Most users watch Mobile TV in their professional environment (workplace 38%; university and school 4%), on transits (while walking around 35%; while traveling 28%; while using transportation means 14%), and during social activities (being at a friend's house 8%; at a bar or daily 7%; at a restaurant 6%; at a pub or discotheque 3%). They also watch Mobile TV when waiting 1 DVB-H broadcasts signals at frequencies below 3GHz using a hybrid architecture involving satellites for global transmission and complementary terrestrial stations for cell coverage. It extends general DVB specifications to the requirements and constraints of handheld devices. 2 DMB (e.g., rolled out nationwide in South Korea) broadcasts signals between 174 and 216 MHz using both satellites and terrestrial stations. It is capable of transmitting audio, video, and plain data. 3 We certainly acknowledge broader definitions of Mobile TV as 'any video played on a mobile device' (e.g., Shin 2006) offering content with which users are familiar from traditional broadcast television on newly developed mobile devices (e.g., Karrberg, Liebenau 2007; Orgad 2006) 4 By the time of the ITS Bi-Annual conference we hope to also being able to have analyzed a complete data set (August 2009 to May 2010) of German Telecom's Mobile TV offerings concerning the German national soccer league transmissions.

2 in public places (see also Creasey 2007). Most 3Italia Mobile TV users are highly satisfied with the available Mobile TV channels (82%-93%) and the available handsets (90%). Earlier assumptions regarding Mobile TV (e.g., Schatz et al. 2007) implied that long shots are hard to watch on small screens and lengthy programs are hard to follow with only short mobile attention spans. However, it appears that across channels and content genres users do not require content to be specifically adapted for Mobile TV. Users accept traditional content on mobile handsets. Thus users allow TV content producers and distributors licensing readily available content with little additional cost and pursuing penetration pricing strategies. Further users are generally familiar with channel names, content types, and schedules; hence there is hardly any need to specifically promote programs broadcasted on Mobile TV. Overall Mobile TV users increase their total media usage through Mobile TV; they prefer time sensitive content, and they do not require specific handset-optimized content for their Mobile TV experience. In summary, we find Mobile TV offerings to be attractive to users with the actual subscription turning out to be rather sensitive to pricing models. Hence, we expect that following mobile infrastructure developments Mobile TV usage will soon to be just another almost ubiquitously used and appreciated mobile service. However, there is a downside to the findings: Even with growing usage, we expect only limited positive business impetus for content providers or any other start-ups. References Creasey, S. (2007) Mobile TV: What Audiences Want, Keynote, Mobile TV World 2007, June 21-22, Rome, Italy. Hu, A. (2007) An Empirical Test of a Use-Diffusion Model for Taiwan Mobile Digital TV, International Journal of Technology Management, 39(3-4), Jarvenpaa, S., Loebbecke, C. (2009) Strategic Management Implications of a Consumer Value Perspective on Mobile TV, Journal of Information Technology (JIT), 24(2), Karrberg, P., Liebenau, J. (2007) Mobile Service Delivery Business Models in Europe and Japan: The Shift from 'Wherever and Whenever' to 'Right Here and Now', IEEE 18th Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications, Sept. 3-7, Athens, Greece. Loebbecke, C., Huyskens, C., Jarvenpaa, S. (2008) Adoption of Mobile TV Services Among Early Users: Convergence of Familiar Technologies and Emergence of Technology Induced Paradoxes, 7th International Conference on Mobile Business - Focus: Creativity and Convergence, ESADE, July 7-8, Barcelona, Spain. Marilly, E., Delegue, G., Martinot, O., Betge-Bretzetz, S. (2007) Adaptation and Personalisation of Interactive Mobile TV Services, Journal of the Communications Network, 6(1), Orgad, S. (2006) This Box was Made for Walking How Will Mobile Television Transform Viewers' Experience and Change Advertising?, Research Report, Nokia and Media@LSE, London, UK. Rautio, T., Attila, M., Tuominen, M. (2007) Bundling of Information Goods: A Value Driver for New Mobile TV Services, International Journal of Revenue Management, 1(1), Schatz, R., Wagner, S., Egger, S., Jordan, N. (2007) Mobile TV Becomes Social - Integrating Content with Communications, 29th International Conference on Information Technology Interfaces, June 25-28, Dubrovnik, Croatia, Shin, D. (2006) Prospectus of Mobile TV: Another Bubble or Killer Application, Telematics and Informatics, 23(4),

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